Insider trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged an investment banker at Wells Fargo with leading an $11 million insider trading ring while he worked in Charlotte.

John Femenia had access to a lot of confidential information through his job at Wells Fargo. He’s an investment banker (or at least was), and he got the scoop on several mergers because his bank helped with the financing.

That information is as good as money. Mergers often drive a company’s stock price up, so if you buy it before that happens – you're setting up for a nice profit.